Always and Forever
by Gnat1610
Summary: After 4 years Sara finaly gets to visit her dad in california. Where she meets a boy who uncovers her deepest secrets. I'm bad at summeries. Please Read!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Sara woke up that morning feeling tired and groggy. She could hear her little brother, Andrew, and her dad in the kitchen making breakfast. She got out of bed and headed down the hall of her dad's small beach house in California.

Sara hadn't visited her dad since her parents got a divorce, which was 4 years ago. She lived with her mom and her 10 year old brother in a small town outside of Austin, Texas. She had missed her dad. They had always shared a special bond; they were alike in so many ways. Sara had been angry with her mother for years after divorcing her dad and making Sara live with out him in her life. Sara was so excited that she was able to spend the summer with her dad. She wanted to reconnect with him, and establish their bond that used to be there so long ago.

She walked into the kitchen to find her dad and brother attempting to flip pancakes. Her dad looked at her and smiled, "Hey, did you have a good night's sleep?"

She nodded, "What's for breakfast?"

"Blueberry pancakes. How does that sound?"

She smiled, "Great."

They sat and ate their dad's delicious blueberry pancakes. It was quite for a while before their dad filled the silence, "So what do you want to do today?"

Sara shrugged, not really sure what there was to do.

Andrew on the other hand knew exactly what he wanted to do. "Can we go to the beach?"

"Sure, but your going to have to wait until later, I have to go to work for a few hours, but then we can have the rest of the day together."

Andrew looked disappointed. They both looked at Sara, Andrew with his puppy dog look which Sara could never say no to, and her dad with a hopeful and apologetic smile. Sara caved. "I can take him; you can always meet us at the beach later."

That set Andrew over the moon, he ran from the table into his room to get ready.

As Sara got up and took the plates to the sink her dad smiled and said, "Thanks Sara."

"No problem. I wanted to go to the beach anyways. It's on my list."

"You still have that list?"

"Yeah." They both smiled at the memory of making her list together, although as she grew older she added more things to the list, but never took anything away from it.

Sara quickly got ready with her brother pestering her to get ready faster. She threw on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt with a bikini underneath. She ran a brush through her wavy brown hair, and put on a little make-up.

They walked together down the beach toward the pier their dad had previously told them about. Andrew was carrying their dad's fishing equipment in hopes to catch something before their dad joined them. If there was one thing that Andrew could do besides eat and watch TV it was fish. He loved it, there was a lake not far from their house in Texas and he would go there on Saturdays and fish almost all day.

They passed by a group of guys playing football. Sara watched them as she walked by. The quarterback threw the ball to one of his teammates, who made the touchdown. As the guy was running back, he caught her looking and tripped over the sand. Sara laughed to herself. The guy was cute. He smiled at her as he got up and dusted himself off. She smiled back then turned her attention back on her brother who was chattering away about the different baits you use.

Once they got to the pier Andrew picked a spot and was wrestling with the bait as Sara pulled out her book, _Wuthering Heights_, and began to read. It was her favorite book; she read it all the time.

Some odd minutes later Andrew interrupted the silence and Sara's reading, "You're boring."

She looked up from her book, "You're the one who wanted to fish."

"Yes, and fishing is fun. Reading how ever is not."

"Well what am I supposed to do while you fish? Jump up and down like I'm some kind of trained monkey?"

"That would be quite nice."

Sara and Andrew would always have verbal sparring matches, and he would always start them, "Well then you're going to have to pay me. I don't work for free."

"I'm sorry, Curious George, I don't have any money."

"Well then you don't get a show."

"Fine I didn't want one anyways."

Sara smiled in her victory then began reading again, a little while later Andrew started up again. "How many times have you read that thing? It looks older than mom before her face lift."

Sara laughed at her brother, if there was one thing they shared it was equal dislike toward their mother, and if either of them could make a quick joke about her, they would automatically win any verbal match. It's not that their mom was a bad person; she cooked and cleaned for them, and had a job. She could be a good mom at times. It was the fact that Sara was upset about not seeing her father, and that rubbed off on Andrew. It was also the fact that after the divorce their mom had taken the alimony money that she got from their dad and used it on herself, face lifts, fancy cars, and especially clothes.

Sara put down her book, "Okay, if this fishing is as much fun as you play it out to be, why don't you teach me?"

Andrew looked at her quizzically, "To fish?"  
"Yeah. You seem so interested in it; I want to know why you think its so much fun."

His face lit up. "Okay!" Andrew started to rattle on about the proper techniques of fishing.

After Sara had hooked by bait and cast her line they stood there in silence for a few seconds before she said, "Andrew, I have another question."

"What is it?"

"Where did you learn to fish?"

He smiled; she knew Dad had never taught him, and Christopher, Mom's boyfriend, had certainly never touched a fishing pole in his life. "From the T.V."

"Oh yeah?"

He nodded, "Yep, from good ol' Kevin Van Dam, best bass fisherman of all time, he comes on Wednesdays and Sundays at five."

"I thought bass were only in fresh water."

He shrugged, "Same techniques can be applied." Sara smiled to herself. Sometimes Andrew surprised her at how grown-up he sounded. She wondered if he would be okay, if she could tell him.

"Good to know."

They went a long time without talking, just the sound of the waves crashing against the pier, and the zipping of the line when they cast. Sara just looked out at the sea and let her mind wonder. All of the sudden her line began to tug. She jumped and screamed, then quickly grabbed hold of the pole. Andrew hadn't told her what to do after she had actually caught the fish.

"Sara! Just reel it in."

"How do I do that exactly?"  
"Turn the handle."

She did as her brother said and reeled her fish in. It was exciting and exhilarating. Who knew fishing was actually some what fun? When the fish popped out of the water, Sara let out a squeal of excitement. Andrew grabbed the net and the bucket. As the fish came over the rail, he caught it with the net. He unhooked the fish and dumped it into the bucket. He looked up at his sister. She was beaming. "Andrew! I caught a fish!"

Sara's smile was contagious; Andrew's spread from ear to ear. "Kevin Van Dam would be proud."

A few moments later their dad walked up. "What happened? I could hear your sister squealing from down the beach.

Sara pointed to the bucket, "I caught a fish!"

His face lit up, "Really?"

Andrew piped up, "Yeah, she learned everything she knows from me."

Jack chuckled, "Well, I believe that."

Sara let her dad take control of her fishing pole, and she sat down on the railing. They all talked for quite a while, about nothing really, but Sara enjoyed being able to get to know her father better. "Well, are you two hungry?" Both Sara and Andrew nodded. "Okay, well my favorite restaurant is just up the beach, we can go there for a late lunch, how a bout that?"

Sara smiled, "Yeah sure, sounds good."

They walked down the beach with fishing equipment in tow. Sara had convinced her brother to let her fish go. She couldn't stand the thought of eating him. She wasn't a vegetarian, but she couldn't eat Rodger, not after she had named him.

As they sat down at a table a waitress came over and handed us menus. "oh, hey there Jack, nice seeing you again."

Their dad smiled at the waitress. "Hi Mary." Sara studied the waitress for a second, and quickly realized why this was her dad's favorite restaurant. She was very pretty, she had blonde hair that was pulled back into a messy bun. She had deep chocolate brown eyes that were warm and friendly. She didn't wear any make-up nor did she need any. Her face was flawless.

"Who do you have with you today?"

"Oh, these are my kids, Sara, and Andrew; they are staying for the summer."

Mary smiled, "It's nice to meet you two. I'm Mary; I'm a friend of your dad's."

Sara gave a friendly smile back, "It's nice to meet you too."

"She's pretty." Sara made the comment after Mary had gotten out of ear shot.

Her dad looked up form the menu, "What?"

"Sara said she's pretty, and I have to agree, I think she is very pretty."

"Yeah, Dad, you should go for it. She was totally into you."

"I'm not going for anything. I don't know what you two are talking about; now decide what you want to eat."

Sara smiled at her dad, and then looked down at her menu.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The next day Sara woke up exhausted, she walked into the kitchen groggy. Her dad had made eggs for breakfast. Andrew was eating and excitingly chatting about his planes for the day. Sara sat down, and Jack handed her food. "So Sara, you ready for another fun filled day? I was thinking we could either head back to the pier and fish some more or we could fly kites."

Sara ate her food slowly, "I'm sorry Andrew I'm just really tired. You wore me out yesterday. I don't really feel like doing anything."

Her dad sat down at the table with his own plate. "Well then what do you want to do?"

"Well y'all can do whatever you want. I think I'm just going to lie down on the beach and read."

"Okay, then Andrew, you wanted to go fishing again?"

Andrew nodded eagerly, "Yeah!"

After they had finished eating, Andrew and Jack left Sara for the pier. Sara rummaged through her dad's garage and found an old lawn chair. She carried it out to the beach and sat down in it. She pulled her book out from her bag and started to read.

There was some sort of snapping sound, and Sara swatted at it, before realizing she had fallen asleep. She opened her eyes, and realized it was someone's hand snapping at her to wake up. The hand belonged to the shirtless kid she saw the day before who tripped while playing football. "Can I help you?"

He smiled, "Uh, yeah, could you move 10 yards that way?"

Sara looked at him confused, "What?"  
"Could you move your chair 10 yards?"

"No."

He kneeled down to get eye level with Sara, "Okay, maybe I should start over." He smiled his perfectly bleached teeth that made girls melt in his hand. "Hi, I'm Nathan." He waited a few seconds, before realizing the repulsive expression she had on her face wouldn't change. "This is where you say 'It's nice to meet you Nathan, I'm insert name here.'"

Sara was debating to tell this lunatic her name. "Sara."

He still had his charming plastered all over his face. "Hi Sara. Now I don't mean to disturb you but-"

"Then don't."

"But you see, you're sitting in our end zone."

"What?"

"For football."

"So?"

"So, could you move 10 yards?"

"No, I was here first."

"Oh, come on! It's 10 yards!"

"I don't care if it's 10 millimeters. I'm still not going to move. Now leave me alone."  
"You know you're just going to get trampled on when one of the guys score."

"Well if you blocked good they wouldn't score. Now go away." Sara opened her book as a sign she was going to ignore him. Nathan gave up and headed back to his friends.

Sara hadn't realized she had fallen asleep until she was jostled. She woke up and looked around. That maniac Nathan and a few of his buddies were moving her chair across the beach. "What on earth are you guys doing?"

Nathan's friend answered her, "Well seeing as you wouldn't move, we are moving you."

"It never occurred you to just move the field in the other direction? I mean seriously? Didn't anyone teach you manners?"

Nathan smiled, "But this was so much more fun."

Sara gave him a death glare. "Whatever. Now that you so rudely moved me, will you leave me alone now?"

"Yes ma'am."

Nathan and his friends ran back to the rest of the group and started to organize their game. Sara muttered under her breath how unbelievable they were, and then cracked open her book and once again began to read. At about lunch time her stomach started growling so Sara decided to grab some lunch back at the house. At 6 Andrew and Jack came home to find Sara lounging on the couch watching TV.

"Hey there Sara, how was you're day?"

Sara shrugged, "It was okay I guess. Did you and Andrew catch anything?"

Jack chuckled, "Yeah your brother is a hell of a fisherman. He caught 15 fish today. I told him we could take home 3 and of course he chooses the 3 biggest. He's putting them in the freezer right now so we can have them later."

Andrew came and sat down on the couch with Sara. "Are you feeling any better Sara?"

"Yeah, loads better. You know I heard from someone down at the beach that there is going to be a fair all day tomorrow. Do you want to go?"

Andrew's face lit up. "Of course!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Andrew dragged Sara along the hot pavement towards the sound of bells and music. "Come on Sara!"

"Andrew, the fair isn't going anywhere. It's okay if we slow down."

Andrew slowed his pace, but not by much. They got to the ticket booth, Jack paid for the tickets and entrance fee. Once inside Andrew raced towards the first rollercoaster he saw and got in line. Jack and Sara followed closely behind. Sara looked up at the monstrous rollercoaster. Her eyes followed the cart as it made its loops and turns. "You know I think I'm going to sit down, on that bench over there and wait for you guys."

Andrew's face fell. "What, why?"

"Andrew, you know I don't like rollercoasters."

"Please, Sara?"

Jack decided to join in too, "Yeah, Sara isn't it on your list to ride a rollercoaster?"

"Yes, but that particular rollercoaster is huge. So I'm going to go sit on the bench and wait for you guys. Okay? Okay." Sara hurriedly walked over to the bench before either of them could convince her otherwise. She sat there and watched all the people walk by, picking up on bits of conversations here and there.

She hadn't noticed when a guy the same age as her sat down. "Hey there." He flashed a smile. He was skinny, as in no muscle what's so ever skinny. He had dark brown hair and deep brown eyes.

Sara didn't return the smile, "Hi."

"So what's your name?" Sara just looked at him for a second then returned to observing the people. "You're not going to tell me your name?"

She didn't look back at him. "I don't talk to strangers."

"Well my name is Kevin. Now we aren't strangers anymore." He was still smiling stupidly.

Sara started to get a little weirded out; this kid was a definite creeper. She stood up, "Sorry, Kevin, I have to go."

Kevin stood up too. "Where are you going?"

Sara was a little hesitant, "Over there." She pointed in a general direction then turned and started to walk away.

The creepy kid grabbed her hand, "Wait. Let me buy you a drink or something."

"No thanks. I'm fine, I really have to go." She moved her hand out of his grasp.

"Please."

"I said no. Now please leave me alone."

"Oh, come on, one drin-" All of the sudden he was punched with a force that knocked him to the ground.

"She said to leave her alone Kevin." Kevin stood up, thinking about challenging the other kid, but decided against it and walked away. The other guy's back was towards Sara. "Sorry about him," He turned around, "You!"

It was that Nathan kid from the beach. "Uh, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Just that you're a pain in my ass."

Sara couldn't believe this kid, "I'm a pain in _your_ ass? You're the one stalking me and won't leave me alone." Sara sat back down on the bench. Nathan was still standing in front of her. She was reminded that she thought he was cute when she first saw him. With his short blonde hair that laid unrly on his head, deep blue eyes that made her own grey ones seem dull, his square jaw and tall lean muscular body who would think he wasn't? Sara narrowed her eyes. "What do you want now?"

"Well I never heard a thank-you."

"A thank-you? For what?"

"For saving you."

"Saving me? I was just fine. I can handle myself."

"Oh please."

"Will you just go away? I'm trying to actually enjoy my summer, but you keep showing up everywhere and ruining it."

"Not until you say thanks."

"What's up with you boys and the phrase, 'leave me alone'? Because apparently y'all don't know what that means."

"I do."

She looked up at him, "Then prove it."

"Okay. I will." He sat down.

After a few minutes of silence, Sara got fed up, "I thought you were going to prove you knew what that phrase meant."

"I am. I was just sitting here leaving you alone. You're the one who started the conversation back up again."

Sara turned and looked at him, "Don't you have something better to do?"

He shook his head, "Nope. I can just sit here all day. How about you?"

"I'm waiting for my brother and dad to get back. Apparently I can't do that without some guy annoying me."

"Oh yeah? Where did they go?" Sara pointed to the rollercoaster just behind them. "Why aren't you with them?"

"I don't like rollercoasters."

"You mean you're scared of them?"

"No, I just don't like them."

"What's so bad about a rollercoaster?" He smiled; he was intrigued to figure this girl out.

"Well first off there are no seat belts, and then when you go up you get all nervous and scared and then as you reach the top you get this knot in your gut, and as you rush down that knot gets bigger it's like no thank-you." Nathan laughed a little. "It's not funny."

"Yeah it is." Sara shook her head. "Come on." Nathan stood up.

"What?"

"Come on. We'll go on that one." He pointed to a smaller rollercoaster next to the one one Sara's family was in line for.

"Um, no. You must be crazy if you think I'm going to get on that thing with you."

"Well these two are the only rollercoasters at this fair, so it's one or the other. Take your pick."

"Who said I wanted to ride any rollercoaster?'

"Well your going to have to if you want to ever conquer your fear."

"I told you I'm not afraid."

"Good, then you don't have a problem. Look there's no line. Come on." Nathan grabbed Sara's hand and dragged her towards the smaller of the two rollercoaster. There were only a few people in front of them, but they got to get in the cart without waiting for the next one. Sara climbed into the cart beside Nathan. The safety bar came down in front of them. Sara was feeling anxious, she had no idea how this kid convinced her to get on this death trap.

"Well here we go." Nathan smiled as the cart crawled forward. He couldn't help but laugh at Sara's expression of total and utter fear.

As they reached the top Sara, of course against her better judgment looked down. It was a long way down. She could hear Nathan chuckling beside her. All of the sudden the rollercoaster lurched forward raced down the track. Sara screamed then latched on to Nathan for security. Sara kept her eyes closed the whole time. It wasn't until Nathan said something that she knew the ride was over. They got out of the cart and headed back to the bench.

"Never again am I riding a rollercoaster with you."

"That makes two. I think I'm deaf in my right ear."

Sara smiled, "sorry."

By the time they reached the bench Sara saw her dad and Andrew exit the other rollercoaster and walk over. "Hey Sara, I hope we didn't keep you waiting very long. The line went on forever." Jack noticed the boy standing next to his daughter, "Who's your friend?"

Nathan stuck his hand out towards Jack, "Hi, I'm Nathan Wilder. I was just keeping Sara company. We met at the beach yesterday. "

Jack took his hand. "It's nice to meet you Nathan." After a little bit of an awkward pause, Sara's dad said, "Well Andrew was saying that he was hungry. I think we were going to head over to the food stands and get something to eat. Nathan, do you want to join us?"

"Oh, uh, No sir. I have to go. It was nice to meet you. Bye, Sara."

Sara smiled, "Thank-you, Nathan."

Nathan smiled and laughed a little, "No problem."


	4. Chapter 4

**So I know some of you read the origional chapter 4 but I started writing and decided to add this part to the beginning of it.**

**Chapter 4**

Nathan smiled and laughed a little, "No problem." He turned and headed down the boardwalk. He passed by people who were laughing and having fun. Nathan wished he could feel like them, and he had today. He smiled at the thought of Sara holding a death grip on him while they rode the rollercoaster. Depression overwhelmed him again, and he continued walking. He didn't know where he was headed, he was just going.

"Hey Nate!" Nathan saw his best friend, Sam, approach him.

"Hey Sam, what's up?"

Sam shrugged, "Nothing. I'm just here with Emily and Vikki. They're standing in line for a drink. I told them I was going to come over and say hi. I think we were going to go back to Vikki's place, her parents are gone."

Nathan smiled, "You looking at some potential girl action?"

Sam nodded, "Oh Yeah."

Nathan laughed, Sam never got passed 2nd base; he always messed it up somehow. Sam was a good looking guy. He was a little shorter than Nathan, but about the same muscle size, and had black hair. His emerald green eyes contrasted against his dark skin. "There is no way you are getting both Emily and Vikki."

"Dude, yeah there is. Here they come, play it cool, play it cool."

Nathan couldn't contain his laughter. "You are such an idiot."

At that moment both girls walked up. "Hey Nate, how's it going?" Emily had asked the question. She was a gorgeous blonde, but she also had the reputation of being a little looser than most girls. Vikki however was a tall brunette, easily one of the hottest girls at the beach, and she knew it.

Nathan smiled at them, "Not bad, how about you?"

"Well, Em, Sam, and I were all going back to my place. Do you want to join us?"

Sam cleared his throat. Loudly. Nathan could pick up on a sign when he saw one. And this was a flashing neon pink sign. "No thanks, my mom wants me home early. I've gotta go."

His friends didn't make him feel like he had when he was with Sara. Why couldn't he get her off of his mind? She was obviously not interested; she had clearly expressed that on many occasions. But, she made him forget. Nathan decided he might as well go home. He lived on the beach, not far from the fair.

When he got home he headed straight for his room, littering the expensive wooden floors with sand. His Mom was going to be mad about that. He closed his bedroom door behind him. He flopped down on the bed. He sighed, and stared at his ceiling fan spin around and around. There was a light knock on the door, his mom entered.

"Nathanial?"

"Sorry about the floors. I'll clean them later."

"I wasn't going to say anything about the floors.

"What were you going to say then?"

"Just that you're home early, and that I wanted to check on you."

Nathan, looked at the clock, it was only 4. He sighed. "I'm fine."

"You don't sound fine."

Nathan felt frustrated, couldn't she just leave him alone? "Well I am."

"Are you sure? I could get Uncle Tom to-"

"I don't want to talk to Uncle Tom, Mom." Being an only child didn't leave Nathan anyone to talk to, anyone with the same problems as him. His dad was the only one Nathan shared his true problems with. Sam was there for the superficial stuff, but when he needed some one to talk to, actually talk to, he turned to his dad. He looked at his mother. "I don't mean to sound rude, but will you just leave me alone?" He made a mental smile that lasted only a few seconds when he said those words, they reminded him of Sara.

His mom looked a little sad, "Yeah sure. Dinner is at 7." She then exited the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

Nathan extended his arm to his nightstand. He grabbed the little orange bottle, dumped out a few pills, and placed the canister back on the table. He threw the little white pill into his mouth, and chugged down a glass of water. The medication didn't make him feel better, but his mother would start to worry even more if the bottle didn't slowly empty.

Nathan stretched out on the bed. He replayed the day's moments in his head. He actually felt happy when he was with Sara. He made a mental note to find her the next day.

At 4:30, Nathan's phone rang. He let it go a few rings before digging into his pocket and pulling it out. He laughed when he saw caller ID. It was Sam.

"Hi, Sam."

"They think I'm gay!"

"What?"

"Emily and Vikki, they think I'm gay, that's the only reason they invited me."

Nathan couldn't help but bust out laughing. Only Sam and Sara could genuinely make Nathan laugh.

"This is not funny. This is a serious matter. If they think I'm gay, who else does?"

"Sam, relax. After summer you'll be off at UCLA, so it doesn't matter what the girls here think."

"Yes it does. What makes them think I'm gay? I mean I was hitting on them all day!"

"I don't know what to tell you. I have never had some one think I'm gay before."

"You are no help."

"Sorry, man." Nathan heard a click that told him Sam had hung up. He laid his phone on the bed beside him.

Nathan let his thoughts wonder. He only realized later that his thoughts had some how lead him back to Sara. He smiled at the thought of her. Nathan looked up at the ceiling, "Hey, Dad. I think I actually like this girl. What do I do?" Nathan waited for a reply, but like always, he never got one.

That night before going to bed Sara opened her favorite book that she had read so many times. She opened to the page she had last read. She pulled out her most valuable thing. She used it as a book mark so she would never loose it. The white piece of paper had changed tint with age. There was a brown circle in the corner from where her mom had set her coffee cup. Blue stamps littered the outside from when her brother was younger, and had gone stamp crazy, placing little blue smudges on anything in reach. It had a few tears and creases from use. Sara had to tape one section back together after it had ripped when she opened it a few months ago. The words written in pencil had faded a little, but Sara had memorized every thing on it, so it didn't matter. It was her list. All the things she ever wanted to do were on this list. Some were written by her others were written with the help of her dad. She read every single item. She loved reading it and seeing her handwriting change as she aged. She read number 16 twice. It was her favorite. She smiled when she remember when she had written it. Sara took the pen she had found lying on the kitchen table earlier and crossed off number 4, _Ride a rollercoaster_,that was chicken scratched in her dad's handwriting. She smiled to herself. Her list was slowly dwindling down. She thought maybe she could complete it. Her smile faded. Sara placed her list back into its place between the pages of her favorite book, where it was safe. She turned off her light and lied down on the bed that was hers for the summer. She sighed; it had been a long day trying to play catch up with her brother, chasing him around the grounds of the fair. Sara had had fun, but it was exhausting. Slowly Sara drifted to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**I'd like to send a shout out to Jami2010, who made my day with her messages!**

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**Chapter 5**

Sara woke up late the next morning; it was almost 11:00. When she walked into the kitchen she noticed a stack of pancakes with a note that was in her dad's barley readable handwriting. _Heat me up._ Sara stuck the pancakes in the microwave letting them reheat. There was another note on the microwave door. _At the pier._ She found another note in the silver ware drawer. _Be back later._ Sara sat down at the table and found another note. She laughed at her dad. He always found the most inconvenient ways to tell her something. _Join us if you want to._ Sara shook her head as she thought _Way to help the planet there Dad._

After she practically inhaled the pancakes she got ready and left for the beach. She had decided not to go to the pier and let Andrew and her dad have some bonding time. She sat down in the same spot as she always did, this time Nathan and his buddies weren't playing football. She was happy that there weren't going to be any interruptions from them today.

In the middle of reading her book, Sara caught someone sitting down in the corner of her eye. She looked over, of course it was Nathan. She rolled her eyes and continued reading.

Nathan smiled, "Hello to you too." Sara shook her head and kept reading. "Oh, come on, now you're ignoring me?"

"No, but anything I say you don't listen. So I might as well save my breath."

"Oh. Okay that makes since."

After a few seconds of silence Sara sighed, "What do you want, Nathan?"

"Nothing. I was just wondering what you were doing."

Sara lifted her book, "Reading."

"So I see."

She already looked annoyed. "Could you just-"

"You know I thought that maybe we could skip all the bantering stuff."

Sara gave him a quizzical look, "The what?"

"You know the bantering. You say 'Leave me alone' and then I come up with something clever, and then you get even more annoyed. I thought that today we could just skip all of that stuff."

Sara still looked unsure. "Okay, then what part do you want to skip to?"

"The part where we actually start talking, you know like at the fair yesterday. We actually kinda got along." He smiled at the memory of the roller coaster.

"Okay, then what do you want to talk about?"

Nathan shrugged, "I don't know. Do you have anything else you're afraid of? Maybe we can overcome your next fear."

Sara closed her book. "First off, I'm not scared of rollercoasters."

"Not anymore." Nathan smiled.

"Okay whatever. Secondly, spiders freak me out."

Nathan's smile faded, "Yeah we aren't doing spiders."

"What do you mean?" After a few seconds Sara figured it out. "What? You're scared of spiders too?" Sara smirked.

Nathan's face was serious, "No. I just don't like them. There is a deference. They have eight legs, and fangs, and they jump, and bite, and fly on invisible strings. I just don't like them."

Sara laughed at how similar he sounded to her yesterday, "Well there's something we have in common. Our equal dislike for spiders. That's what I call a great foundation for friendship."

Nathan laughed too. "Okay, let's see what else we have in common. Favorite food?"

That was a no brainer for Sara, "Pancakes."

"I like Pizza."

"Well, they both start with the letter P."

"I call that a win."

Sara laughed at Nathan, "Okay, favorite color?"

"Red."

Sara frowned, "Blue."

"Well, they are both primary colors."

Sara smiled, "Another win!"

Nathan laughed at their game. "Okay, favorite animal?"

"Dolphin."

"I'd have to go with a tiger, but one of the white ones."

Sara laughed, "Okay way to be specific."

They both thought about it for a second, before Nathan said, "they are both mammals."

"Win! Favorite movie?"

"That's a hard one. Umm. I'd have to say the old James Bond, not the new ones with that blonde guy."

Sara smiled and rolled her eyes, "I'd have to say The Notebook."

"Eh the book was better."

"You did not read The Notebook."

"Yeah I did. It was for some project for school."

"Uh huh. Sure."

"Well that brings us to favorite book."

Sara lifted the book in her lap, "Wuthering Heights."

"Harry Potter, hands down."

Sara laughed, "Nerd."

"Hey, Harry Potter is awesome."

"I didn't say he wasn't. I just called you a nerd."

"Okay, next thing, name one thing you want to do before you die."

Sara couldn't name just one thing, that's why she had a list. "Well, I have never seen the stars."

"You have never seen the stars?"

"Well back in Dallas, all the lights block them out."

"Well I think sky diving would be cool."

"Way to be original."

"I'm hungry."

Sara smiled "Random much?"

He looked at his watch. It was almost 1:00. "You want to come over and eat lunch?"

"Like to your house?"

"Yeah, I'm hungry. Come on."

Sara paused before saying, "Okay." Nathan stood up, and then held out his hand to help Sara up. As they walked to Nathan's house, Nathan noticed Sara's nervous expression, he smiled.

"Don't worry. No one is home. My mom's at work."

Sara relaxed a little, "Okay."

They walked in through the patio door, leading into the modern kitchen. "What do you want to eat?"

Sara shrugged, not wanting to impose. "Whatever you're having I guess."

Nathan smiled, "PB and J it is." As Nathan prepared the sandwiches, Sara leaned against the dark granite countertops and looked around the house. She could see everything from the kitchen. The living room was so clean it looked as though they never used it. There were two hallways that branched off of the living room; Sara assumed they lead to bedrooms.

They sat down at the wooden table and ate the sandwiches. "You make a mean PB and J."

Nathan smiled, "I better. It's the only thing I can make. That and cereal."

Sara smiled, "Well, that's your three meals there, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You'd just have to have peanut butter and jelly twice a day."

Nathan shrugged as he picked up the paper plates, and threw them away. "I'm fine with that. Do you want to hang out in my room?"

Sara shrugged, "Sure. I don't care what we do."

"This way then." Nathan led her across the picture perfect living room, and down one of the hallways Sara had seen previously. He turned into the first door on the right.

Nathan's room was the exact opposite of the magazine living room. There were posters, and pictures strewn across the walls. The floors were clean, but he night stand and the dresser were cluttered with random things, an Ipod, water bottles, movies, colognes and other items. Sara turned her back to the nightstand, looking a poster.

Nathan quietly dumped the little orange bottle of medication he had left out into the nightstand drawer. Sara didn't turn around, she just simply asked, "What's the medication for?"

Nathan was surprised she knew what he was hiding. "What are you talking about?"

Sara turned around, "The medication that was on the nightstand that you hid in the drawer." After he didn't answer Sara guessed, "Are you sick?"

Nathan shook his head. "No."

"Then what? Do you do drugs or something?"

"No. Will you just drop it?" Nathan looked serious.

Sara shrugged it off, "okay. I'm sorry."

Neither of them talked for a few minutes before Nathan asked, "Do you want a water or something?"

Sara shook her head, "No thanks."

He stood up, "Okay well I'm going to grab a bottle of water. I will be back in a second."

"Okay."

As soon as he left, Sara walked over to the nightstand. She placed her hand on the knob. She was tempted to open the drawer and see what he was taking. Nathan would never know. Sara was overwhelmed with curiosity. She opened the drawer, then stopped. What if he found out? He would be furious. She decided against it and sat down on the bed. He deserved to have some privacy, every one keeps secrets, God knows she did.

Nathan came back a few seconds with two water bottles. He handed Sara one, "I didn't want one."

Nathan shrugged, and then placed the spare on the nightstand. He would drink it later. He twisted the cap off and took a drink. They sat in silence.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Nathan walked Sara home after they watched a few movies. The sun was sinking beneath the ocean, sending orange and pink streaks across the sky. As they walked Sara looked out at the ocean, marveling at the beauty. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Sara hadn't realized it, but Nathan hadn't been talking about the ocean.

As they approached Sara's house, they said their goodbyes and Sara walked up the porch steps and into the small beach house.

She looked around, it was nothing like the luxury at Nathan's house, but it was home to her. Her dad and Andrew had already set the table and were waiting on her to get home before eating dinner.

"Hey."

Her dad stood up from the sofa that he and Andrew had been sitting on. "Hey, dinner's ready." They all filed into the kitchen and sat down. "How was your day?"

"Good. Nothing too exciting."

Andrew jumped in to the conversation, "We've notice you've been spending quite a bit of time with that Nathan kid." Andrew cracked Sara up, it always surprised her how old he could sound sometimes. Sara shrugged nonchalantly, and pushed the broccoli around her plate. "Just tell us if we need to talk to him, about certain things."

Sara couldn't help but smile at the thought of her little brother having _the talk_ with Nathan. "Neither of you need to talk to him about anything. We're just friends, that's it." There was a little part of Sara that hoped that maybe, just maybe they would end up more than friends.

Both guys eyed her suspiciously. "Uh, huh, sure."

Sara couldn't help but smile a little bit. Jack switched the conversation to what they did all day. After dinner the family watched a little TV before going to bed.

As Sara lied on her bed, she couldn't help but feel like she wasn't just visiting her dad for the summer, but like she was finally home. She sighed and rolled over to where she was facing the wall. She fell asleep slowly.

Sara woke up with a start when she heard a tapping noise. She sat up quickly, her heart pounding. She sat in the silence, scared, waiting for the noise to come again. There it was. The soft tapping sound on her window. Curious, she got off of her bed, and walked over to the window. She drew back the curtains cautiously.

She peered through the window at the figure standing on the other side, slowly her eyes readjusted to the light. It was Nathan. She opened the window.

"What are you doing here?"

Nathan smiled, "Cute PJ's."

Sara looked down at what she was wearing. A tank-top and soffee shorts, it had been too hot to wear pajama pants. "What are you doing her?"

"Nothing, just wanted to say hi."

Sara looked at her bedside clock. It was 2. "At two o'clock in the morning?"

"Well yeah. That's when the stars are the brightest."

Sara gave him a quizzical look, "What?"

He held out his hand through the open window, "Come on."

She still had a confused look. "Through the window?"

"Yeah," He made a 'come-on' gesture with his hand.

"I could just walk around and go through the back door."

Nathan gave her a lopsided smile, "But where is the fun in that?"'

Sara reluctantly took his hand and climbed through the window. She didn't let Nathan know, but, sneaking out of the house made Sara feel rebellious, and exciting.

Her rebellious feeling faded when they walked around the porch to see a blanket folded our on the sand. "What's that for?"

Nathan smiled at her question, "It's so we don't get all sandy."

"Doing what?"

Nathan was still smiling when he sighed, he pointed to the sky.

Sara looked up in awe. The sky was pitch black. Every star shone so brightly. They danced across the dark abyss, sparkling to their own individual rhythm. She couldn't believe how beautiful they were.

They lay down on the blanket Nathan had laid out earlier, and without speaking, just watched the stars.

There was a weird noise, like some one clearing their throat. Sara's eyes fluttered open. The first thing she saw was sand, covering a pair of feet. Her eyes followed up to meet her dad's face. Sara jumped to her feet immediately.

Jack took a sip of his coffee, "So, I was grabbing my morning cup of Joe here," He lifted his mug that read _World's Best Dad_, "When I noticed some one out here sleeping. Guess who I find when I come out here?"

Sara looked down, trying to come up with some excuse as to why she was out there with Nathan. She did a double take to the spot next her. It was empty. "So, why are you out here, Sara?"

Sara was a little puzzled, but answered her dad's question, "I wanted to see the stars last night, and I guess I fell asleep."

"Okay, well, you hungry? I could make pancakes?"

"Yeah sure." Sara picked up the blanket and walked inside with her dad.

"I've never seen that blanket before, where did you get it."

"The closet in my room."

Jack grabbed milk and eggs from the fridge, "Oh, okay."

Sara walked to her room, blanket in hand. She closed the door behind her. She set the blanket down on her bed and fished in her bag for her book then sat down on the wooden floors and leaned against her bead. She grabbed the list and crossed off number 8. _Watch the Stars_. Sara felt overwhelmingly satisfied. She thought about the night before. Just her and Nathan, laying down, staring up at the stars. Sara caught herself smiling at the thought of Nathan.

Her cell phone went off and interrupted her thoughts. Sara stumbled to her feet. She couldn't remember where she had put her phone. She rummaged through her bag quickly, but it wasn't there. Her phone stopped ringing. Sara still searched for it. She found it in her suitcase.

Sara had forgotten that she had her cell phone. She saw that she had one missed call and a few text messages from friends. Her missed call was from her mom. She thought about calling her mom back when her phone rang again. She answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Sara. I haven't heard from you or your brother since you first arrived. I wanted to check in, see how you were doing." Sara didn't respond. She never responded to her unless there was a direct question. "So, how are you doing?"

"Fine." When she did answer it was a one word answer.

"How's Andrew?"

"Fine."

"Your Father?"

"Fine."

"How's your father's pancakes? I remember you used to love them. Are they as good as they used to be?"

Sara rolled her eyes, "Do you really want to talk about pancakes? If you want his secret recipe, I'll just hand the phone over to him."

"Sara, I-"

"You what Mom? What do you want?"

"I just wanted to make sure you guys were alright."

"Well we are great, terrific even. We are all having a great time without you. So you can stop worrying and continue playing dream house with Christopher."

"Is that what you really think?"

"Are you really that blind? Of course that's what I think. You only care about yourself. You have never been concerned for me or Andrew, so why are you starting now? Why do you care?"

"I thought that if I let you spend time with your father I wouldn't be the bad guy anymore."

"Do you see what I mean? You let us come here so _you_ wouldn't be the bad guy. You don't really care that we actually get to spend time with our dad."

"I'm sorry Sara."

Click. Sara hung up after that. She couldn't stand fighting with her mom anymore. She'd been fighting with her ever since her dad had moved out and she was repulsed by it. She had been having a wonderful time with her dad, with Andrew, with Nathan. Now she was angry. She changed out of her pajamas, and stormed out of the house, passing her confused father on the way out.

Sara stomped across the beach, her mid going a million miles a second. She was mad at the thought of her mother calling her. Sara was so preoccupied by her thoughts that she passed Nathan without a word.

"Sara!" She turned and saw him trying to catch up. "Hey, what's up?"

"Nothing's up." Sara continued walking. Nathan grabbed her by the hand to stop her.

"You look totally pissed, I mean it's written all over your face. What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"It's not nothing. What happened? Your dad didn't see me right? I tried to sneak away as best as I could."

"It's not about you. My dad didn't even realize."

"Then what's got you so worked up?"

Sara looked into his eyes; they told her that he was genuinely worried about her. She took a deep breath. "It's just my mom. Sometimes she just gets me upset."

"Oh, what happened?"

"We just got into another fight. She just makes me so mad that I-"

Nathan did something that totally surprised Sara. He pulled her into a hug. He wrapped his arms around her. After the initial shock wore off, she slipped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest.

It was a nice hug, an amazing hug really, Sara was disappointed when she felt Nathan let go. She pulled away from him. She was now calm, that hug was exactly what she needed. Sara smiled at Nathan, "Thanks, I needed that." She then walked back to her house.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Nathan couldn't help but smile as Sara walked away. He was half tempted to follow her, but decided to let her go. He walked back in the direction of his original destination, Sam's house. Sam didn't live on the beach like Nathan or Sara. His house was a bout a 5 minute walk into town.

As Nathan walked, he passed by stores with his name plastered on the front. His dad had pretty much owned the town. Almost every building said Wilder. He looked at every sign and felt pain. He was reminded of what his father once was. He continued walking.

He knocked on the front door of the two story cookie cutter house. It looked exactly like the one next door to it. They only difference was that Sam's house had a huge dent in the rain gutter from when Nathan and Sam had been kicking the soccer ball and hit it. Nathan smiled at the memory when he had passed it. A few seconds later a Native American woman opened the door.

Nathan gave a warm smile, "Hi Mrs. Locklear."

"Hello, Nathanial. Come on in." The only two people allowed to call him that were Mrs. Locklear and Nathan's own mother. "I think Sam is up in his room."

"Great thank you." Nathan gave her another smile before climbing the stairs.

Nathan walked down the small hallway and opened the last door on the left. As he walked in he could hear the soft snoring of his best friend. A mischievous smile spread across Nathan's face. Nathan tiptoed quietly across the room and to the bed, careful not to make a sound. Without hesitation, Nathan leapt onto the bed. Sam gave a shout of surprise. Nathan continued to bounce up and down on the bed; careful not to step on Sam, he wanted to wake him, not to kill him.

"What the hell, Nate?" Nathan hopped off the bed, a smile plastered all over his face.

"Good morning, Princess."

Sam snuggled closer to the blankets, "Why the hell did you wake me up?"  
"Some one's in a bad mood."

"Yeah, I am, you woke me up by jumping on top of me."

"I didn't jump on top of you, just around you."

"Is that supposed to make me feel any better?"

"No, why would it?" Nathan grabbed his friend's arm and heaved him onto the floor, with a loud thud. "No come on and get dressed."

Sam slowly got to his feet. His eyes were squinted. "Why?"

Nathan looked him in the eye, "because no one wants to see your power ranger boxers. Now come on let's go."

Sam slowly retrieved a pair of pants and a shirt and pulled them on. They left the house, saying goodbye to Sam's mother on the way out.

They descended the porch steps, "So, what do you want to do?"

"How should I know?"

"You mean to tell me that you woke me up at God only knows what hour for nothing?"  
Nathan looked down at his watch. "It's 8:02" Sam stared at him with an irritated look. Nathan smiled at him. "What? God's not the only one who knows that it's 8:02, oh well now it's 8:03." Sam still had the look that his was about to kill Nathan on his face. "Okay, so I don't know what I want to do, but I'll buy you breakfast. How's that sound?"

"All I have to say is that it better be a pretty damn good breakfast for waking me up at 8:02 in the morning." Sam and Nathan walked over to the small town's only diner.

After Sam's all expenses paid breakfast, they headed towards the beach, like the best friends always did when they didn't know what to do. As soon as they hit the sand, Nathan's eyes immediately scanned the beach.

"Who are you looking for?"

Nathan looked at his friend, "What?"  
"You look like you're a homing missile looking for it's target." Nathan didn't say anything, "Okay dude, who's the girl?"

Nathan was surprised he could figure it out so quickly. But then again Nathan should have learned by now not to underestimate Sam. "I don't know what you're talking about."

. "Uh huh, sure." A few seconds later he said, "Is it that girl we moved for our game?"

"Sara."

Sam smiled, "I knew it."

"I didn't say it was her, I was just telling you her name."

"So there is a girl."

"No."  
Sam tapped his index finger to his chin. "Hmm, who could it be?"

"It's no one because there is no one."

Sam got this knowing look "It's Sara. It's written all over your face." He clapped his hands together, and rubbed them, "So when do I get to meet your new girlfriend?"

"Never, because she isn't my girlfriend. She's just a girl."

Sam ignored his statement of denial, "So, how about now? Do you know what she is doing?"

Nathan shrugged, "Well, she is either reading or with her family."

Sam hit Nathan's shoulder, "I knew you liked her, you already have her schedule down. So, I'm guessing she does this reading in our end zone."

Nathan nodded, and they headed in the direction of their beach football field.

Sara was sitting in the lawn chair she had found in her dad's garage. She wasn't reading anymore, she was looking out at the ocean, distracted with her own thoughts.

Nathan sat down next to her, but didn't interrupt her thoughts, Sam did the same. Nathan went from looking at her to looking at the ocean then he looked back at her again. "What are you doing?"  
Sara jumped, dropping her book that was in her lap. "Oh my God, you scared me." She picked up her book. "I was just thinking. What do you two want?"

In a polite manner, Sam said, "Hi, we haven't been formally introduced. I'm Sam, Nate's best friend."

Sara smiled at him, "I know who you are. You're one of those kids that moved me out of your precious end zone."

"I see you are still not giving up your spot."

Sara shrugged, "No, I don't really care, I just sit here to spite Nathan."

Nathan gave her a sarcastic smile and laugh. "You just think you're hilarious don't you?"

Sara turned back to Nathan, "Yes. Yes I do."

Nathan rolled his eyes, "Well, we came over here to see if you wanted to go grab lunch with us."

Sam looked at him confused, "We just had breakfast, it's like 9. Who eats lunch at 9?"

Nathan gave him a shut-your-face look. "Whatever."  
Sam looked at Sara, "You see, I think he just came up with an excuse for you to hang out with him."

"Oh, I don't think that's why. I know. You see, he comes over here like every day. A guy only does that if he likes you, or he's just a creeper." Then in a whisper she said, "I really hope it's not the latter."

Sam looked a little shocked, "Wait a second. He comes out here everyday?" He then shifted his gaze to Nathan, "He told me he had to do chores for his mom. Is she the reason you didn't come to Viki's house with me?"

"Dude, you're the reason I didn't go. You wanted to 'get some girl action', remember? And then they said you were gay, and you called me crying."

"Hey, I was not crying, merely complaining about the situation."

"Wait. You're not gay?" Sara stared at him with a shocked face. Sam returned her look with a blank stare. Sara looked away, "Okay, awkward."

Sam gestured to Sara, "Even your girlfriend thinks I'm gay. I mean seriously? What possesses them to think that?"

"She's not my girlfriend." Nathan said immediately.

Sara was still focused on Sam, "Well, I don't know exactly. It's just, you put out this vibe."

"A vibe. That's what you girls judge my gayness on?"

"Yeah. Sorry."

"I'm so glad I'm going to college next year. Get out of this town, where girls think I'm gay."

Sara giggled to herself. She didn't actually think he was gay, he just saw how much it annoyed him. He was actually really cute. "Okay new subject. What do you guys want to do?"

The boys just shrugged.


End file.
